Happy Place
by Denaliyasha
Summary: JackSam 'Let's just say I'm a sucker for geek humor and leave it at that. Now, shhh, Carter, I'm in my happy place.'


Disclaimer: I do, actually, own the t-shirts, but not the characters.

A/N: Set any time when SG-1 was still SG-1. Not one of my better pieces, but oh well. Review, please.

**Happy Place**

"Carter, what is that?"

She looked up at him blankly. "What is what, Sir?"

He frowned, stepping back to let her through the door. "Your shirt. Where did you get that?"

She rolled her eyes as she set the pizza box down on the arm of the couch. "I made it. Why?" She folded her arms, which only served to accentuate the picture on the front of her t-shirt.

"That has got to be the geekiest thing I've ever seen." His tone was mildly derisive, and Teal'c and Daniel looked up from where they were choosing DVDs to watch the argument.

"Really?" She glanced down at it. It had the words "I Want To Be A Star" written across it. Below it was a large picture of the Hubble Deep Field on it. The blackness of space and the colorful galaxies stood out against the plain white cotton. Below that, in parenthesis, were the words "or a galaxy".

"Really."

"I like it. Consider it geek humor, Sir." She turned her back on him deliberately.

"Where's the humor?" Daniel winced. What was Jack thinking? Was he suicidal? Or was he drunk? How many beers had he had? Daniel considered taking the bottle out of his hand.

Sam turned around with clenched teeth and a fake smile. "The humor, Sir, is that when most people say they want to be a star they don't mean a literal star. But in this case, it's lots of galaxies, not stars."

"Ah." Clearly, he didn't find it funny.

"Would you like me to go home and change my shirt, Sir?" She raised an eyebrow, managing to make it imply that she was looking at a lower life form, something around the level of pond scum.

"No, that's fine, just pointing out the geekiness."

"Actually, I'd feel more comfortable if I did. I have another shirt in my car." She stalked out of the living room, returning a few moments later with a small gym bag, and, glaring at Jack, exited in the general direction of the bathroom.

"Jack, are you TRYING to get yourself killed?" Daniel exploded the minute he knew Sam was out of earshot.

"What?"

"She's a scientist, Jack, she's a geek. You say so yourself. Do you HAVE to mock the woman who saves your ass when you manage to screw up? Cause that's a lot of ass saving. And let's see, she's saved the world HOW many times now? Ten?"

"Fourteen, actually."

"SEE? Her 'geekiness' saves lives, Jack. Yours, mine, everyone's. You don't have to make fun of something that defines her and makes her able to do what she does."

Jack glared at his friend. "Jeez, ok." There was silence until Sam walked back into the room, bag and crumpled shirt clutched to her chest. Jack glanced over at her, taking a sip of his beer. As she set them down on the floor, he choked.

"This better?" She gestured at herself. This t-shirt, like the other, was a plain white cotton undershirt, though this one clung more than the first. It stretched tightly across her chest, hugged her flat stomach, and ended just above her jeans. Like the other one, it had a picture, though this one was of an astronaut standing on the moon. The caption read, "Shhh... I'm in my happy place."

"Er..." He looked hard at the picture for a moment, then realized just where he was staring and dragged his gaze up. "The Sea of Tranquility. This joke I get."

"I guess that makes you a geek then, Sir." Her eyebrow went up again, and this time he was lower than pond scum.

"I suppose it does." He turned his face to the TV, where Teal'c had managed to get one of the Star Wars movies going. "Anyone want popcorn?" Thankfully, nobody called him on his rather bad change of subject.

When the credits started rolling, Teal'c and Daniel begged off with kelnoreem and a weak alcohol tolerance, respectively. This meant, of course, that it fell to Sam to help him clean up. She started gathering dishes, but Jack grabbed her arm.

"Sam?"

The use of her first name got her attention. "Yes, Sir?"

"I apologize for mocking your shirt."

"Thank you, Sir." She glanced down at the hand still on her forearm and that damned eyebrow went up again.

"Permission to speak... out of rank?"

She frowned at him. "You outrank me, Sir; you don't have to ask me."

"Right, then." He fidgeted for a few moments, then sighed. "Ah, hell, ok. You're really cute when you're being geeky. And you're incredibly... well, that shirt raises my blood pressure."

Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?" He smiled wryly. He knew he'd shocked her when she forgot to tack a respectful "sir" onto the end of the sentence.

"As the heart attack it almost gave me." He figured if he was going to be brought up on charges, he might as well say it all.

She blinked at him. "Oh." A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You should see the one I've got at home." He groaned. Her smile widened into a full out grin. "See, I made tank tops, too..."

"Jeez, Carter, are you trying to kill me?"

"No, Sir, just trying to wake you up."

"Huh?"

"Sir? Wake up." He blinked sleepily, focusing on the blue eyes looking down at him.

"Carter?"

"Yes, Sir. Did you forget that it's team night?"

It wasn't till he sat up on the couch that he realized she must have shaken him awake, because her hand was still on his shoulder.

"No, just..." He trailed off as he got a good look at her shirt. It had a familiar picture on it... "Carter, did you make that shirt yourself?"

"Yes." She looked confused, and he didn't blame her.

"Are Daniel and Teal'c here?"

"Not yet, Sir." She knelt in front of him, putting up a hand to his forehead. "Are you alright?"

He leaned forward and dragged her up into his lap, his mouth muffling her surprised noises. Her arms came up around his neck, pulling him closer. When they both couldn't breathe, he lifted his head slightly and smiled down at her. "Never better."

"Jack... what was that for?" Big blue eyes stared up at him, wary and vulnerable.

He kissed her again. "Let's just say I'm a sucker for geek humor and leave it at that. Now, shhh... I'm in my happy place."


End file.
